The Nothlits: Book one
by Masterweaver
Summary: The Yeerk war is over, life goes on, and in the suburbs a group of teenagers decide to form a band. At first, it's a normal series of practices and trying to get gigs. Then they find something unusual, and their world turns upside down... R&R please
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Animorphs. Yet. But if the copyright ever goes up for sale…

***

**Chapter one**

My name is Illunina-Asmortian-Darvune. My human friends, however, call me Nina.

Yes, I said human friends. I myself am an andalite. An andalite female, to be precise, with deep purple fur and what I am often informed is a sleek physique.

One of the axioms I have heard in writing chronicles is that it is often wise to start at the beginning. This is not, apparently, when my parents moved to earth in order to live a peaceful life outside of the Andalite Military, nor is it when a strange human wearing a hat asked me what I thought of seagulls. Rather, this would be when Jared proposed the band.

We were at his house, playing an interesting game that the humans called "Monopoly." Apparently, this game was so easily structured that it could be made in different themes. This particular version celebrated the Yeerk war, or rather the dramatized version of the Yeerk war. It is my personal belief that humans are naturally insane in order to cope with their lack of natural weaponry.

Jared adjusted his hat—it was the very same hat he had been wearing when we first met—and said, in his most silky tone, "Oh dearest beloved sister of mine, I shall offer you both Jake's room and Tom's room, as well as two hundred, for your Dome."

"Not a chance." Kelly moved her pink bang out of her face, revealing heavy eyeliner and a face pale with makeup. "The Dome Ship monopoly is the most profitable in the game, and I'm not going to give it up for the Barenson House."

((You only have the Dome, not the Stem,)) I pointed out.

"I could still get the Stem." She glared at her brother. "No deal."

Jared shrugged. "Your loss." He picked up the dice, shaking them in his hands. "Big money no whammys, big money no whammys…"

Kelly rolled her eyes. I had lived long enough amongst humans to recognize that as a signal of mild annoyance.

The dice fell. Jared smiled at his sister as he moved the pewter tiger onto the Stem and bought the property.

"Luck," she said dismissively, but her shoulders sagged slightly.. She turned to our fourth player. "Your turn, Daktak."

The Hork-Bajir nodded, examining the board. It had come as a personal surprise that Daktak could understand such a complicated game, but Jared had explained it was basic math and nothing more. I had noticed, though, that Daktak had a habit of asking Jared for help counting out the bills, but when I had made to comment on it, Jared had shushed me.

"Seven!" Daktak said proudly, moving a silver replica of a Hork-Bajir around the board.

((You owe me two hundred and fifty dollars,)) I informed him.

His brown arms and green claws hovered uncertainly over the bills in front of him, and he glanced helplessly at Jared.

"Two golds and a blue," Jared suggested helpfully.

"Daktak knew that," claimed the lizard confidently, pulling the appropriate bills and handing them over.

"Just saying," Jared replied, holding up his hands defensively.

"Okay, boys, tune it down," Kelly said as she rolled up the dice. A roaring bear was moved onto free parking. "Nina, your turn. Dice or payment?"

((I still do not understand how landing on one space can get you directly imprisoned.))

"It's a game of skill, with an edge of chance," Jared explained. "Just… adapt."

((I will pay,)) I announced, handing my recently obtained fifty dollar bill to Jared. As he stuck it in the proper slot, I rolled the dice and moved my pawn (an andalite, of course) seven spaces forward.

I drew a card and read it. ((You're a suspected controller. Go to Jail, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars.)) I turned to my human friend. ((I believe this is somewhat unfair.))

"Like I said," Jared grinned, picking up my pawn and placing it back where it was. "There's an edge of chance." He grabbed the dice.

And then he paused.

"I just got a really great idea."

Kelly groaned. "Oh, not another great idea. All your great ideas end us up in bad situations."

"Not all of them! The blueberry chili was good!"

"One success." She waved around her finger sarcastically. "That's the problem with your ideas, they're always so out there."

((Kelly does bring up a good point,)) I nodded. ((Most of your plans are not normal.))

"Normal? There is no such thing!" Jared laughed maniacally.

((I beg to differ.))

"Said the purple centaur."

I glared at him with all four of my eyes and crossed my arms. ((So andalites are not normal?))

"Andalites _on Earth_ are not normal. All we have are tourists, give it a few years."

"Anyway," Kelly interjected, putting her hand on my shoulder, "Whatever your idea is, it's not going to be something simple like a bake sale. And I most definitely will not go with it."

"Two words," Jared said, ignoring her. "Rock band."

"What is Rock Band?" asked Daktak. "Is it like wrist band?"

((It is a group of musical performers,)) I explained. ((They sing a specific kind of song. A kind,)) I added privately to Jared, ((I do not find favorable.))

"Daktak not good with singing," the Hork-Bajir said sadly. "Not going to be in band."

"Nonsense!" Jared insisted. "You don't have to sing to be in a band. You could be..." He paused only slightly. "...our drummer!"

"Drummer?"

"You know, bum bada bum bum." He rapped his hand on the table to demonstrate. "You can keep a beat, right?"

Daktak smiled and rapped out the exact same bumps. Jake laughed.

"Right, I'll be strings cause I'm just that awesome, plus I have dad's guitar in the attic. Illunina, do you have any instruments you can play?" Jared was one of the few humans who took to the andalite language like a Kafit to the winds.

((Yes,)) I grudgingly admitted, ((but it wouldn't work. The Kisial operates on a fifteen-note scale, whereas most Earth instruments have a seven-note scale.))

"We'll adapt," he shrugged. "That leaves Kelly with the singing."

"WHAT?!"

"Oh come on, sis, you know you're a great singer."

"I am not!"

"You most certainly are! I can hear your shower serenades every morning from down the hall."

Kelly's face grew red. "What? No. No, I do not sing in the shower."

"I hear Kelly too," Daktak volunteered helpfully. "Is very pretty."

((And I cannot sing due to my distinct lack of vocal cords.))

"It's unanimous!" Jared cried dramatically.

((Not that I agree with this at all,)) I added. ((I still do not like rock music.))

"Objection noted. Now, we still need to think of a name." Jared made a show of pondering, rubbing the dice in one hand while he rested his chin on the other. "Something dramatic, attention-grabbing."

"Why not call ourselves the idiots?" Kelly muttered, hiding her face behind her bangs. I noticed her face was still crimson.

"No, no. That's just not what I'm looking for." Jared stared into space for a few seconds before snapping his fingers. "I've got it! We'll call ourselves... what's that word, Illunina, the one for morphers that get trapped in a form?"

((...Nothlit?)) I ventured.

"Yes!" He reached into the monopoly box and pulled out a pewter hawk. "We'll be... THE NOTHLITS!"

"No, we won't. I will not agree to this. Sorry, no-can-do, outta here." Kelly crossed her arms and glared at her brother.

Jared smiled a hideous smile. "Care to make a... wager on that?"

"What?"

He gestured toward the board. "I will give you not only Jake and Tom's room, but also the Stem, and if I still win, you have to be the lead singer of the Nothlits."

"Really?" Kelly leaned forward, examining Jared's properties. One thing, I had noticed, that the two had in common was their obsession with games. "Hmmm. That would place you at a disadvantage."

((You still would need to convince me,)) I reminded. ((And I do not think that is possible.))

"Oh reeeeeeeeaaaaaaalllly?" Jake grinned at me. "What if I were to, say, tell your parents about that one par-tic-u-lar night?"

I snapped my stalk eyes around. ((You would not dare.))

He shrugged. "You never know."

I stared in his face. He looked right back at me.

"What night?" Daktak queried. "What Jared talking about?

"I don't know," Kelly replied. "I know the date, but he's never told me anything."

The thing is, Jared has the most expressive face I have seen, and right now he seemed to have no expression at all. I backed down.

((Fine.... But only if Daktak Lakpak can outlast me,)) I allowed

"And I'll take your wager," Kelly interjected. "With that amendment, I doubt the Nothlits are ever going to fly."

"Oh you're on, little missy," Jared taunted, handing her the properties. "I am giving up my room for this."

"Jared's room?" Daktak asked, confused.

"Don't forget who I'm playing," he reminded, tapping the tiger.

((By that logic, the Dome Ship monopoly should be mine,)) I pointed out.

"Touche, milady."

Needless to say, Jared won, with Daktak second, myself third, and Kelly last. He made me promise to bring over the Kisial the next day, and I left while he turned to a sulking Kelly. At the time, I thought it would simply be another of his crazy schemes.

Perhaps if I had known what would happen, I might never have agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Animorphs. Not even a book. My research is all done on Wikipedia.

***

**Chapter two**

The next few weeks, as can be expected, proceeded with large amount of cacophony that Jared paraded as potential music. When I first brought in the Kisiar, he had queried if I had ever heard of the Blue Man Group.

((I have not heard of them, no. Why do you ask?))

"That looks a lot like their pipe instruments would look if they were made of metal."

((I assure you, this is an ancient andalite musical device.))

"Come to think of it, their masks feature permanently fused mouths… maybe they're disguised andalites?" He thought about it for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Nah, they're too crazy. Any real andalite would have snapped before he did half the things they did."

We spent the rest of the first day trying out different tunes on the guitar and the Kisiar, trying to figure out a way to combine two different musical systems so they did not sound, in the words of Kelly, "like ten yowling cats flying a Bug fighter." We did eventually hit on a peculiar combination, where Jared would only play five of the strings on his guitar, and even then he adjusted them.

The next day started with an attempt to coax Kelly into singing. "Please, oh beloved sister of mine whose voice is comparable only to the beauty of the nightingale's song?"

"Nightingale?" she snorted. "This is a rock band. Or it would be if I chose to sing."

((I agreed to go along with this,)) I reminded her. ((You are duty-bound not only by your word, but as my shorm.)) I arched my tail for emphasis.

Kelly stared at the blade. "Are you threatening me?"

((Just saying,)) I quoted. ((Besides,)) I added privately, ((if I spend the whole day with just Jared and Daktak, I believe I might go insane.))

Kelly sighed. "Alright, I'll do this for you, Nina. What am I singing?"

"Well," Jared said, pulling out a few sheets of paper, "I worked on this simple tune here, just to see how our music would play. It's a rendition of an old classic." He handed them out.

Kelly looked at her copy and raised an eyebrow. "The itsy bitsy spider?"

"Start simple," Jared explained. "Daktak, could you provide us with a four/four beat?"

"Um...." The Hork-Bajir stared at the drums in front of him.

"You know, Bum bum bum bum."

The drumsticks came down nervously, mimicking Jared's request.

"Right! Now just keep that up." Jared nodded in time with the beat, and turned to us. "Let's see what monster I've cooked up, shall we?"

He plucked a chord. I brought my hands down. And Kelly sang.

About five minutes later, we stopped.

((That... was... not bad,)) I admitted grudgingly. ((There were a few problems, but they were because of the musicians, not the song.))

"Well, certainly not Beethoven," Kelly agreed. "But for a kid's song, it works."

((Kid's song?))

"Itsy bitsy isn't sung outside of kindergarten that often." Kelly glared at Jared. "I mean, really?"

"Would you have preferred the ABCs?" Jared replied.

"No, I'd have preferred, I don't know, something like rock maybe?"

"Well, there _is_ the rock version of the ABCs."

((We need to work on our coordination,)) I interjected. ((That seemed to be our main problem.))

"Right. From the top." Jared adjusted his guitar strap. "Daktak, give us a beat, please?"

When we'd managed to "get into the swing of things," as Jared put it, it was agreed we should be able to graduate from a kid's song to something more advanced. Jared promised he'd have new music written by the end of the week.

"Of course," he had added, "If you ladies wish to provide your own tunes for consideration, I might just think about it..."

"Oh please," his sister snorted. "This whole band is a joke. Like we'd ever seriously write music for a rock band…"

The next day, I tried to sneak in early. I did not want Kelly to see the papers I clutched in my right hand. But it is rather difficult for an andalite to sneak into a human house, and I had about decided to forego my endeavors, when the front door swung open.

"Nina," Daktak asked curiously as he went to grab the newspaper, "What you doing?"

((Nothing,)) I replied, lowering my front hooves from the window. ((At least, nothing that concerns you.))

"Door was unlocked," Daktak pointed out.

((...I knew that.)) I claimed. ((I was merely trying to attract Jared's attention.))

"Why?"

((I have composed a group accompaniment that I wish to propose for our parody of an orchestra.))

Daktak looked at me and blinked. "Is...?"

((I wrote a song for the band,)) I explained.

"Oh! We not using that."

((Excuse me?)) I put my hands on my hips, before I realized what a human gesture it was.

"Kelly already wrote song. Jared looking over it now."

I blinked, all four of my eyes.

"Daktak, who are you talking to?" Jared came to the door, a sheaf of paper in his hands. "Oh hello, Illunina! You're up early!"

((Kelly... wrote...?)) I waved my hand vaguely at the thing he was holding.

"A song? Yes." He tipped the brim of his hat. "Don't worry, we'll use yours too."

((THAT--THAT HYPOCRITE!)) I stabbed the grass with my tail.

"Aren't we all?" Jared asked, smiling. "Come on, let's open the garage."

I fumed as the sheet of metal rattled upward, revealing Kelly already standing with a microphone in her hands. ((You said it was stupid to write music!)) I shouted. ((You practically promised not to!))

Behind her white makeup, Kelly grew red. "He goaded me!" she countered, pointing at jared. "He's my brother, what else could I do?"

((You could... could...)) I faltered. What _could_ she have done? Still, I was angry. ((I expected _you_ to be the sane one here!))

"I thought you'd be the voice of reason! Anyway, you wrote one too!"

((How did you--?)) I looked at the papers I still clutched tightly. ((Oh. That.)) I shuffled my front hoofs awkwardly, placing the sheets on a random bin beside me.

Kelly sighed, putting down the microphone. "Look," she said putting her hand on my shoulder, "Jared's obviously behind all this, isn't he?"

((It _was_ his idea…)) I admitted.

"Right, so let's stop yelling at each other and gang up on him, okay?"

"Now now, ladies," Jared interjected, "I never actually _asked_ for contributions…"

"Yes you did!"

"No, I only said I was open to contributions. Never said you had to give anything."

"But—you—I—ARGH!" Kelly slammed her hands down. "Fine! You win!"

"Okay, sis, whatever you say…" Jared walked into the house. "I need to copy your music anyway. We can't share one sheet."

We stared after him.

"That… that…" Kelly waved her hand vaguely at the door

((I know!)) I agreed.

Daktak laughed. We glared at him.

"Comics," he explained, pointing at the paper he held. "Funny. Not Nina and Kelly. Really!"

Kelly sighed. "Okay, okay…"

When Jared returned, we began practicing the song Kelly wrote, which she had appropriately titled "Tears of the Hawk." At first, our attempts sounded chaotic and discordant, exactly as I expected. Kelly herself said it was "complete and utter crap."

"Try try again, sis!" Jared encouraged. "From the top!"

That day, and the next, we failed to produce anything more than noise. We could have given up—we _should_ have given up—but Jared took everything in stride, encouraging us and essentially demanding that we sacrifice all of our spare time practicing. He somehow managed, though a combination of flattery, taunts, and humor, to convince us to keep trying despite our apparent lack of any sort of talent.

And then... somehow, it worked. Kelly and I looked up from our instruments and stared in amazement at each other.

"Wow," she said.

((Wow,)) I agreed.

For a while, the only sound was Daktak's habitual gnawing of his drumsticks.

"Okay, we did it once," Jared said, breaking the reverential moment. "Now let's figure out if that was luck or skill."

"Luck or..?!" Kelly shook her head. "You really know how to kill a mood, bro!"

"Just one of my many talents," he replied with a grin. "FROM THE TOP!"

We played through the song again. And again. And a third time. We spent the rest of the day perfecting it, and I even heard it in my dreams that night. When I went over to Jared's place the next morning, we played it through a few more times.

Finally, to use a human phrase, I snapped.

((We have memorized this, Jared! We could play "Tears of the Hawk" anytime. anywhere, in any condition! Why are we still practicing this day in and day out?!))

"You have a point," Jared conceded, reaching for some sheets of paper on a bin. "How about we play your song now?"

((What--? Oh no. Nononononono, I'm fine with Hawk tears, really. I mean, it's a great song! Kelly's a genius--))

"'Exnortha une Yeelir Taxxons'?" Jared looked at me incredulously. "And here I was thinking that you had no sense of humor!"

((I didn't actually think this band thing would work...)) I replied, embarrassed.

"Now wait," said Kelly, holding out her hands, "I know Exnortha is consumed and une is possessive--"

"And Yeelir means documentation," Jared supplied.

((Nonononononono!)) I waved my hand frantically, trying to stop him, but it was too late.

"So... my documentation was consumed by Taxxons...?" Kelly ventured. Her eyes widened, and she turned to me with an astonished expression. "'Taxxons ate my homework'?!"

"Taxxons ate Kelly's homework?" Daktak asked. "Where Taxxons?"

"Don't worry," Jared reassured him, "It's just the name of the song."

((Well,)) I began, shuffling my hoofs, ((I kind of thought... you see, I ... it was a joke!))

"Hey, we need a good humor song!" Jared chuckled. "No offense, Kelly, but we can't be an all-angst band if I'm in it."

"Oh no, I'm fine singing this," Kelly said. "But Nina has to be translating the song for me while I'm singing."

And so we began playing "Exnortha une Yeelir Taxxons", with Kelly breaking into giggles every fifteen minutes. Despite this, we managed to master it a lot quicker than "Tears of the Hawk," a feat which impressed me. When we ended our session that afternoon, Jared promised to have a surprise for us at our next practice. I assumed it would be something simple, like a set of band shirts.

I was completely wrong.


End file.
